


Love in Absolutes

by Nelsynoo



Series: Anwen and Cullen NGO AU [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arguing, Cullen Rutherford Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, NGO AU, One Shot, The NGO AU that no one wanted but I'm writing anyway, Turning into kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 01:56:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5187767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelsynoo/pseuds/Nelsynoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anwen and Cullen have an argument and Cullen accidentally lets slip something he wasn’t ready to confess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love in Absolutes

"No"

Anwen's hands stilled, knife poised above a partially julienned carrot. "Excuse me?" she asked, peering over her shoulder with narrow eyes and a sharply arched brow.

"I said 'no', absolutely not, you are not going to Syria." 

Even under her withering gaze, Cullen stood his ground, arms crossed and face drawn. He knew the expression she wore all too well. It was the same mix of surprise and anger that twisted her features whenever someone dared disagree with her (which was a rare but disastrous occurrence). Cullen himself had only been on the receiving end of such a glare on a few occasions but he’d always relented, not willing to evoke her ire over something which was ultimately rather petty. But this time was different; this time she wanted to do something unbelievably, _life-threateningly_ stupid, and Cullen couldn’t just stand idly by.

He was relieved to see the knife abandoned on the chopping board as she turned to face him fully. "I wasn't asking you, I was telling you," she said, voice terse, words clipped.

"And I'm saying 'no'. Syria is dangerous."

"You went to Somalia last month! That's pretty fucking dangerous."

"It's not the same; I can take care of myself!"

"So can I!"

"No you can't!" he shouted, his voice louder than he expected. He immediately regretted it when he saw her whole body stiffen, her eyes darken.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she seethed through gritted teeth, her whole body thrumming with barely-contained rage. He knew from the sharpness in her eyes that he’d crossed some sort of line, wounded her pride. She pulled herself to her full height, an indication that she was preparing a decisive verbal assault, and he knew he had to end this soon before their argument escalated any further.

"This isn't like your usual trips to Lebanon or Iraq. Syria is an _active war zone_! You NGO types think that you can just flounce around wherever you want. You think that because you're doing development and aid work you're safe, you're not targets. But that's just not true! Working for an NGO is not going to stop you from getting caught in the cross-fire. I know you're smart, Anwen, and resourceful, but you also take a lot of fucking risks!"

"I'll have security with me!"

"What? Some shitty, unregulated, local provider?! You think I'm going to trust some unarmed, untrained amateur to keep the woman I love safe?!"

Anwen suddenly went stock-still, her limbs stiff and eyes wide. At first Cullen didn't register what he'd said, what he'd unintentionally let slip, but then realisation slowly dawned on him and he felt a flush crawl up his neck.

"You... you love me?"

He hadn’t meant to say it, not yet. While he’d known for some time that what he felt for her was love, he wasn’t ready to articulate it, to speak it out loud and make it _real_. That he loved her hadn’t come as a big revelation, a sudden lightening bolt of feeling, it had come slowly, gradually, building indefatigably until the intensity of his feelings for her could not be denied. The way she brought him little gifts from her trips, books perhaps or interesting maps. The way she made his tea just _right_. The way she argued with such burning passion, eyes sparkling, words tumbling so fast that he could barely keep up. A hundred little moments, a hundred little feelings that had grown and grown until he was so deeply in love that the thought of losing her made something in his chest twist, constrict so tightly he struggled to breath.

"Yes - yes I do," he stated simply, painfully aware that it wasn't the most opportune of moments for a declaration of love, huddled in her cramped kitchen with the stir fry burning.

She stood and stared, her features pulled wide with shock but also, alarmingly, something that looked akin to terror. Uneasiness settled in the pit of his stomach. He’d frightened her, come on too strong, _too eager_. After all, they’d only been together for a few months. 

But while the silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity, the shock and fear slowly drained from her features and the corners of her mouth gently tugged up in a small, pleased smile. Then suddenly her hands were balled into the front of his shirt and she pulled him down for a bruising kiss, lips meeting clumsily and teeth clacking from the force. His arms wrapped around her out of well-honed instinct, pulling her small frame flush against his with one hand pushing insistently at the small of her back while the other settled between her shoulder blades.

“I love you too,” she murmured against his mouth, followed by a gentle nip of his bottom lip. He parted his lips at her wordless request, gave a low, rumbling moan as her tongue darted past his teeth. Her hands let go of his shirt, snaked up his torso and swept along the back of his neck to tangle into his hair.

Suddenly she pulled back a tiny fraction, their ragged breaths mingling in the space between them. “You know, just because you said you loved me, doesn’t mean this argument is over,” she said, words punctuated with breathy little pants that made his skin tingle. “I’m still mad.”

“Shut up,” he growled, crushing his mouth against hers once more before lowering his hands to cup her bottom and lift her onto the kitchen counter.

For once in her life, Anwen didn’t argue.

**Author's Note:**

> For more writing, drabbles, artwork and general rambling, please check out my [tumblr](http://nelsynoo.tumblr.com/).


End file.
